:Six:

Disclaimers:

-I do not own any of the Naruto franchise, so no chastising

-dedicated to Julia

Enjoy!

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"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."

― Henri Nouwen

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Naruto could feel the absolute fury gauging out from her as he took a step back from the scene. He knew she was wary enough to not accidentally slip on her words and saying the wrong thing that could rightfully expose them both in front of two civilians, so he waited for her response before they could telepathically come up with a story as to how they were acquaintances. He hoped Shikamaru was still a bit knocked from all the alcohol they consumed, but the chances were low, as the blonde himself could only feel what was the pint of beer he had about fifteen minutes ago sink into a pool in his stomach uncomfortably.

"Heya, Sak," he nervously chuckled, opting to rub his fingers behind his neck. Years had passed by, but it implanted in his mind was something he could never forget: the temper she had inherited by being the adopted daughter of Senju Tsunade. This, therefore, probed him to believe that he was completely and utterly done for.

He could see her aura practically growing red, and although he knew it to be a figment of his imagination, he knew she could practically see red. She was angry, and he was on the other end of the stick. She'd be dealing with his ignorant ass, not one move spared short. He was sure.

"Shikamaru," he called, leaning back but not fully turning to face the other man, who's interest had suddenly piqued at the revelation of the strange maiden, who had the whole council whispering, actually knowing the prince's right hand man. Suspicious even, if he must.

"Give us a bit of time, will ya? Why don't you and the lovely Miss Tenten go out on a night stroll. The sky is quite nice tonight-"

No, he did not certainly mean it to be romantic; that much the Nara could deduce. What he meant was for a distraction. It was clear he didn't want them there, which, on its own, was amazing. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't one to not have an audience, with that loud mouth he bickered on and on at the palace, he swore like a sailor at most— so why would this occasion be any different?

Well, it wasn't his place to question. Judging by the lady's expression, she seemed quite irritated with the blonde's sudden appearance. As much as he wanted to know, he stuck to just touching the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't in his person to delve into other people's business, and he wasn't about to break that moral here and now. He turned to the brunette across the room, courteously offering her his hand.

"Since my colleague and your acquaintance have some catching up to do, I think it's best if we do leave for the time being."

"Sir Shikamaru, my parents aren't present. We'd have to stay here, why don't you guys settle this somewhere upstairs? Just don't head into any main rooms, I trust you." she narrowed her eyes at them.

And with that, they took off, scaling the creaky wooden stairs, leaving the two left to sit in an uncomfortable silence.

"Why were you two in search of Miss Haruno, Sir?"

He looked at her boredly, shrugging his shoulders carelessly as he turned to look outside the window. Fairly enough, as Naruto said, the sky was clear--dark as ever, and the moon sat brightly amongst the thick blanket of navy, gleaming with silvery tones.

"The council has been making a gradual uproar of her entrance. Spontaneously arriving, alone, might I add, one would only be curious…" he furrowed his brow.

"That to say, she could be deemed a threat."

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Sakura wanted to throw something at him. Hex him. Do whatever she wanted to just hurt him. The audacity of this man! She couldn't believe it. Her Naruto wasn't like that, not at all. He knew they were dangerous, these humans. It was plainly understandable wanting to befriend them and staying civilian— definitely. But he had become one of the Konoha council! How Tenten revered him more than should plainly be necessary for a townsfolk proved it. He was a higher up!

"How dare you. How fucking dare you, Naruto!"

He shuddered at her words, struggling to speak. Where would he even start? She was pointing such an accusative finger his way he felt the way it spiked up, sending an imaginary electric shock down his spine. She was glaring daggers at him, her eyes glossy with fury and spite. She really did hate him, but he could tell she wasn't mad that he left. No no no. She was mad that he never visited.

Sakura had quite the free mind, and so did he, but neither of them had made choices that had severe consequences. Until he had. His being as big as to just disappear entirely from the coven. He was sure that even if he had decided to pay his hometown a visit, the punishment for leaving would be fatal. Maybe even not being allowed to go out anymore. Couldn't she see that?

They were sixteen now. Old enough to carry themselves properly, to care for themselves, to be full fledged witches and warlocks. There was without a doubt in his mind that she had already completed her ritual by high moon a few days ago.

"Happy late birthday, Sakura."

She froze, eyes glazed with confliction as she stared at the boy in front of her, wondering if he had gone insane. Of all things to say in the situation, he wished her a happy birthday? What happened while he was here, all jolly and merry with humans surrounding him?

"You're… you're insane."

"Sakura-"

"What is wrong with you?! You suddenly disappeared three years ago, not sending me any letters or so even though we both knew you were alive, and suddenly when I'm old enough to finally travel, I find you scurrying around all drunk with… with humans!"

The pinkette flung her hands up exasperated, sighing. She pinched the bridge of her nose tightly, feeling the edges of her eyes watering at the action. She wanted nothing more than to get out of this situation and pretend like she didn't know this man, didn't spend the majority of her childhood days dancing around the sweet potato fields and watching their neighbours cast spells around to preserve the youth in the coven. She wanted to forget that Naruto had been so close to her, because right now, he was nothing short of a few steps away, yet it seemed he was a whole eternity's length. Their string of bonds were cut short a long time ago, and she'd grieved long enough.

"Would you like me to explain...why I did it?"

She didn't dare open her eyes--she was on the verge of sobbing after all. She swallowed hard, in hopes the lump in her throat would push down and vanish. But it didn't, and the silence after his words brought a low ringing in her ears that she couldn't handle.

"Whatever. Just make it quick. I don't have time for your nonsense."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her words.

"We both know that's not true, Sakura-chan." She flinched at the honourific and surprise, whipping her head up and opening her eyes to be encapsulated in an ocean of cerulean.

"From the looks of it, you've just arrived here. You don't know anything about this town, but you're lucky enough fate brought you to this particular bakery. Tenten'll take good care of you, her folks are great too. If you'd let me, tomorrow I could help you learn the ropes."

"Don't divert the subject, Naruto."

He smiled, a cheeky grin that caught her off guard. But they were both thinking the same thing: neither of them had changed since their last encounter. Which, in a way, was relieving.

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Tenten had a slight idea where the Nara was coming from, and nodded with her lips tight.

"You suspect she could be one of them?"

This only elicited a sigh from him, at which he took out his tobacco pipe.

"Sir, please don't smoke in here-"

"I'll be by the window. Any matches?"

She quickly grabbed her skirt and made her way behind the counter, coming back with not just matches, but some tobacco, too.

"Why would you ask me not to smoke in here when you have tobacco behind that counter?"

"I just don't like the smell, okay? It makes me want to throw up. But I'll bear it for now, knowing your habits." she pushed the items towards him, turning her head sharply to the side with a furrowed brow. He took them with ease, and set them on the nearest table.

He lightly compressed some of the tobacco into the chamber of his pipe, then, lightly the match, he meticulously wafted it over the sheddings, making sure to take whiffs at it. Once the smoke started to arise, he blew out the flame of the match, throwing it aside and opened the front window, blowing his troubles away. It was sweet, and hot to his mouth, and he could feel himself getting a tad lightheaded. But he was used to it. It wouldn't take the worst toll on his body, he was sure, because he wasn't reckless. Unlike a certain blonde.

He wondered what was happening upstairs, the two of them seemed to be taking their sweet time. From the look on the girl's face, it would seem that she was fuming like the flames of hell, but his ears must be betraying him to have heard no screaming or shouting from upstairs. The whole thing was just a bother, and he couldn't help but sight the puff of smoke from his lips.

"By the way," Tenten shied towards him, "How's Neji doing?"

"Still being an absolute ass to put up with."

"And you aren't?"

"At least I don't openly complain about my work in meetings and feel that I'm too much of a power force to be in a conference."

"But you procrastinate as much, and complain where there are no ears to hear. And you don't wanna be in meetings either, but because you're not bothered."

"Are you saying I'm just as low as Neji?"

"Maybe."

"If that's what you're saying then there's just one thing that separates me from him; it's that he loves you."

At his words her face instantly coloured, flushing in a bright shade of crimson that would have made Shikamaru laugh if it was a part of his character. But he didn't, yet chose the optimal smirk at knowing he had, once again, caught the lady off guard.

"I don't know what's to happen to you two, though. You're basically asking for a death sentence together. This isn't some Romeo and Juliet type shit, you know?"

Tenten laughed somberly, her eyes dulling with sadness, "I know."

"So you're willing to face any brutal consequences regarding your forbidden courting."

"I am."

He sucked in, wanting more from his pipe, before carefully blowing it out into the night air.

"What a pain."

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"I couldn't stand it."

"Couldn't stand what?"

"The coven. The way it was so...secluded. How we had to be protected with one huge barrier that prevented people from seeing us, and vice versa. I hated how we had to wait until we gained the rest of our power laying dormant through our stones that we would've been deemed responsible enough to survive. I wanted to prove that I could do it, without powers, even. I wanted to break the chain that had hidden us for so long, 'ttebayo."

Sakura bit her lip. His argument was valid; she had a similar mind of his, one where they could be more free to the world, and not be oppressed to hide in secret alike other covens, but there were holes in his train of thought.

"I get it...but why to such lengths? Why would you stay here so long, and why go at thirteen? Naruto at thirteen we barely had any sense of what the world outside was even pictured like-"

"Because they shielded it from us."

He inhaled sharply, looking her directly in the eye.

"They didn't show us because they didn't want us to go. We'd be frowned upon otherwise. You-- you've always shown interest in going outside, and Tsunade-sama always encouraged you to learn more about it. I bet she was surprised when you actually wanted to leave, but it most likely something she knew would happen when you reached that age. I admire her for that. But people question her, Sakura. Behind closed doors, where neither you or her can hear their dreaded hearsay spreading around. They love her, don't get me wrong, but they hate how she raised you. With an open mind, that is. But they have no choice but to respect her-- she's the head witch, after all."

The pinkette blinked, trying to process his words, bit by bit, and as the seconds passed she was slowly crumbling. She didn't know how mentally sheltered she was until this moment.

"I'm sorry."

It was all she could say. What else could she muster? She was speechless. Nothing could fill her voided mind other than the fact that throughout the sixteen years of life that she'd spent in the coven, not once had she ever heard any poor words spoken of her mother figure. Naruto, and maybe even Ino, might have protected her from those words, those derogatory comments caught around. And she couldn't speak for a while. Not under her voice untangled itself from the tight knot it had roped itself into.

"About that offer," he tried to keep the conversation light--she liked that. He was always one to cheer up the most depressing moods, and she couldn't help but smile warmly and nod.

"I'd like that. But aren't you a part of the council? Don't you have a busy schedule?"

"Eh, I can convince Teme to let me out a little early. Fourteenth hour, perhaps."

"Teme?"

"The crowned prince of course."

"Ah the crowned pri- did you just call the crowned prince a bastard?"

"Yeah! I actually call him bastard, since he wouldn't understand me if I said teme. And he calls me deadlast."

"That isn't- Naruto you've gotten way too comfortable-"

He laughed heartily, waving her worries off with his hand.

"I think I'm good, Sakura-chan. It's good to see you again. You don't have a spare crystal in your belongings for me, do you?"

"You footsore. How would I know I'd find you here right as I arrive?"

"Feisty as always," he beamed, "I missed you, Sakura. Ino, too. I miss having someone to talk about my problems with freely. I can't tell just anyone my parents were a witch and warlock that put themselves on the line during an invasion and never made it out."

She shook her head in exasperation, and engulfed his figure with her slim arms. Although he'd been away for so long, he was still like a brother to her, an important person in her childhood, and the only thing that she knew as home. Somehow, the foreignity of the new life she chose for herself became more bearable.

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"You guys took too long."

"Yep! And now we're going. It's a bit late, no? Also Sakura here can very well be trusted. She's a childhood friend of mine after all."

Tenten looked at Sakura in surprise.

"Wow! That's so cool, so you were from Naruto's hometown?" To which she nodded curtly with a grin.

"I knew I liked you!"

"Some reunion if she had to take your ass out. Come on, I want to squeeze in at least two hours of sleep tonight and I'm not going to catch it if we dilly dally."

The store door closed with a resounding ding, and all that was left was the flickering wax candle, and the two girls standing in the midst of the room.

"Your room will be this way Sakura."

Hello! The reason why I haven't updated is because lent happened and I decided to give up SasuSaku haha. I didn't abandon this!! I love this story and aim to finish it as much as I can

Thank you in advance Julia for beta reading! I hope you liked this now that I can start posting again :)

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time,

bye!